Floor-jack



(No Model.)

J. L. KOBLER.

FLOOR JAGK.

No. 523,214. Patented JulylY, 1894.

4 INVENTOH ITNESSES. 1%:

A TTOHNE Y8.

NITE STATES JOHN L. KOBLER, OF LE SUEUR CENTRE, MINNESOTA.

FLOOR-JACK.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,214, datedJuly1'7, 1894. pplication filed November '7, 1898. S rial No. 490.223- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may conccrm Be it known that 1, JOHN L. KOBLER, of LeSueur Centre, in the county of Le Sueur and State of Minnesota, haveinvented a new and useful Improved Floor-Jack, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improved jack used to facilitate the placingof floor boards, sheathing or ceiling boards, and their retentlon inplace until secured by nailing, and has for its object to provide anovel, simple and inexpensive device of the character indicated, whichwill afford means to conveniently and expeditiously force the tonguesand grooves of flooring, siding or ceiling boards into close jointedconnection, and enable the operator to retain a board in proper positionwhile he nails it to the joists or like supports whereon said boards areplaced.

To these ends my invention consists in the construction and combinationof parts, as is hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a floor in part, and the improved jackshown in position for use on a loose board. Fig. 2 is a detachedperspective view of the jack hook which is a feature of the invention.Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of a lever that is conjunctivelyused with the novel feature of the device; and Fig. 4 is a transversesectional view of flooring and the improvement in position for service,taken in the direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 1.

In the work of locating and attaching the boards forming a floor,Wainscot or ceiling, it is necessarythat after the firstboard such as A,is secured upon the supporting joists or like timbers, the other boardsbe successively forced into place, and nailed to the joists.

The novel implementthat is shown in the drawings, and which'is welladapted for the purpose of pressing boards together edgewise, mainlyconsists of a'metal bar B which is preferably made rectangular in crosssection, and. is bent edgewise at a, so as to produce two members anarm, and a hook limb that diverge at an angle less than ninety degrees.

One end portion of the hook-like bar B, is

furnished with a rectangular loop, that is produced by bending thematerial upwardly at a right angle at b, and again at o, to dispose itin a plane parallel with the flat surface of the bar composing the hooklimb of the. device, and at a proper distance from c bending the bar endportion downwardly as at d, so as to provide two parallel limbs for theloop which are integral with other parts of the dog-clamp as forconvenience thedevice B, is termed.

The looped portion of the dog-clamp, is proportioned in width betweenits parallel limbs so as to allow this part to be slid over the upperedge portion of a joist such as O, or this timber may represent anupright stud if the boards are used to sheath the wall of a room aswainscoting.

It is essential for the efiective use of the dog-clamp B, that its end6, be pointed and this limb curved edgewise slightly inward or towardthe looped end, the angular divergence of the lateral arm and hook limbof the dog-clamp being of such a degree, as will project the hook limbhaving the pointed end sufficiently toward the vertical plane of thelimbat the bend b to cause the point e, to have a loose contact with theside-of a joist C, or like timber, when the looped portion of the dogclamp is located upon said joist.

There is a lever D provided, which may be formed of wood or metal,having its lower portion flat on one side and from which projects a hookor staple g, the latter being placed near the end of the lever that islowermost .in service. i

To prepare for use the floor clamp that is composed of the lever and dogclamp, the sta ple or hook g, is slid upon the dog clamp and located onits lateral arm near the angular bend a, as indicated in Fig. 1, thelever D being upwardly projected.

The operation of securing the boards upon joists or other like timbersupports is as follows: The floor dog is placedwith its lever nearlyupright and the looped end portion of the dog clamp upon and looselyembracing the sides of the joist O,'near the outer edge of the loosefloor board A, that is loosely en-- gaged by itsopposite edge with thesecured floor board that is next to it. This will locate thelever D, incontact with the free edge of the floor board A a short distance abovethe point wheresaid lever is shackled to the dog clamp B. The pointedend e of the hook limb will thus be brought loosely into contact withthe side of the joist, so that pressure on the hook member engaged bythe lever will force the point of the hook into the joist and afford atemporarily secured abutment for the lower end of the lever, that whendrawn or pressed at its upper end toward the flooring will force thetongued and grooved edges of the loose and fixed boards into closeengagement. When the loose floor board A, has been forced into place, itmay be secured by nails diagonally driven into it at its outer edge, asindicated at h, in Fig. 1, the nail shown having been previously enteredatits pointin adiago- -nal position ready for driving through the boardinto the joist.

It will be seen, that by the use of the floor jack herein-beforedescribed, one person may readily secure flooring, sheathing or ceilingboards in place, by holding the lever firmly after the loose board hasbeen forced into place, with one hand, and using a proper tool to drivethe nail, with the other hand.

When the force applied to the lever D is relaxed, the hook limb will beloosened, and the entire device may be shifted awayfrom the edge of theboard it has been forced against, and as the latter is supported on aplurality of joists, the floor jack may be changed from one joist toanother to secure the board thereto, or more than one operator may worktogether to alfix the flooring, and each be supplied with theimprovement to expedite the Work.

It will be evident that the improved floor jack may be employed to placein position and facilitate the attachment of boardsthat are true ontheir edges but are not tongued and grooved, and also that severalboards may be forced one against the other at their edges at one time ifthis is desired.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters 1atent The herein-described floor jack, consisting ofa lever and a clamp having a U-shaped loop at one end, one leg of thesaid loop being extended outwardly, forming a lateral arm to which thelever is shackled near one of its ends, and a dog formed integrally withthe lateral arm and joining at its base with the outer end of said arm,the dog being disposed at an acute angle to the lateral arm, the pointedterminal of the dog extending into the plane of the loop, substantiallyas described.

JOHN L. KOBLER.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. Houo, W. II. WILSON.

